Abortion restraints win final passage in Texas House

By Peggy Fikac :
June 24, 2013
: Updated: June 24, 2013 11:03am

A crowd gathers at the state Capitol, many wearing T-shirts with the words “Stand with Texas Women,” to protest Republican efforts to pass a bill to impose tighter restrictions on abortion.

Photo By Rodolfo Gonzalez/Associated Press

Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, center, sponsor of Senate Bill 5, is flanked by fellow Republicans during the second reading of the abortion bill on the House floor of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, June 23, 2013. If passed, the bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks, require that they take place in surgical centers, and restrict where and when women can take abortion-inducing pills, would force 37 out of 42 abortion clinics in Texas to close and undergo millions of dollars in upgrades. (AP Photo/Statesman.com, Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Advocates on both sides of the abortion issue were watching lawmakers, though abortion-rights advocates were more evident.

Photo By Rodolfo Gonzalez/Associated Press

Women's rights protesters react in gallery of the House of Representative Chambers as State Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, works on the second reading of Senate Bill 5, the bill she sponsored, during debate on abortion held on the House floor of the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, June 23, 2013. If passed, the bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks, require that they take place in surgical centers, and restrict where and when women can take abortion-inducing pills_and force 37 out of 42 abortion clinics in Texas to close and undergo millions of dollars in upgrades. (AP Photo/Statesman.com, Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Photo By Rodolfo Gonzalez/Associated Press

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, stands at the podium where she has hung a hanger from the microphone on the House floor as she attempts to add an amendment to create an exception for victims of rape and incest in Senate Bill 5 during debate at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, June 23, 2013. If passed, the bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks, require that they take place in surgical centers, and restrict where and when women can take abortion-inducing pills_and force 37 out of 42 abortion clinics in Texas to close and undergo millions of dollars in upgrades. (AP Photo/Statesman.com, Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Photo By Rodolfo Gonzalez/Associated Press

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, wields a hanger from podium of the House floor as she defends her attempt to add an amendment to create an exception for victims of rape and incest in Senate Bill 5 during debate on abortion at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, June 23, 2013. Speaker, State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown watches from rear. If passed, the bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks, require that they take place in surgical centers, and restrict where and when women can take abortion-inducing pills_and force 37 out of 42 abortion clinics in Texas to close and undergo millions of dollars in upgrades. (AP Photo/Statesman.com, Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Photo By Rodolfo Gonzalez/Associated Press

Speaker of the House Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, left, and parliamentarian, Chris Griesel, right, deal with a point of order by Democrats on the House floor of the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Statesman.com, Rodolfo Gonzalez)

AUSTIN —The Texas House gave its final approval Monday to a bill to ban abortion at 20 weeks and impose tighter restrictions on the procedure, sending it back to the Senate with little time left in the session.

The special session called by Gov. Rick Perry must end Tuesday, making Senate Bill 5 vulnerable to a filibuster by Democratic senators who oppose it. A filibuster occurs when a senator talks until time runs out to consider the measure. Perry could call another special session if he chooses.

The House vote was 95-34 after opponents reiterated their concerns that it would cause numerous abortion clinics to close due to stricter standards that they called unnecessary and expensive. They suggested it would deny legal, safe abortions to women and that the state was wrongly intruding into the doctor-patient relationship.

Backers continued to portray the measure as one aimed at protecting women's health as well as unborn children, although a tweet by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst days ago undermined that argument when he suggested the goal of the bill was to essentially ban abortions and close clinics.

SB5 would ban abortions starting at 20 weeks on the assertion that that is when a fetus can feel pain, which is disputed.

It would require abortion clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers, require a doctor who performs abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles and impose requirements on the administration of drugs that induce abortions.

Passage came after the House consideration of the measure lasted through the night when Democrats used delaying tactics to stall its consideration and approval.